It can’t be easy to write about grief in all its forms, especially for two teenage characters wracked with it in all its profound ways, but Johnson captures it poignantly and beautifully. Rebecca is enduring the grief of losing her father, the grief of what remains of an already tenuous relationship with her mother, and the grief of losing her ability to walk and becoming wheelchair-bound at such a young age. Ethan is enduring the grief of slowly losing his mother to addiction and the grief of being moved and relocated over and over again. Meanwhile, these two young people see their lives intertwined past to present, before and now, as they deal with their grief, each other’s grief, and their changing relationship.

a heart wrenching read that hits close to home right now


thank you to the author, netgalley, and the publisher for this advanced copy to review!

3.5 ⭐️ this was really good! I didn’t not want to put this down! I loved the characters and the writing. Would definitely recommend this to my friend!

“Every time you go away” is a beautifully written and heartfelt book. I fell in love with both Rebecca and Ethan’s story.
Ethan was a boy who was burdened with things way too heavy for his young shoulders to carry. My heart broke for him and adored him.
I loved being apart of their childhood stories and having a front row seat as they navigate through live, the trials at hand and seeing them be able to both heal and have the rest of their stories unfold Into their current lives.

“Every time you go away” is the type of book you begin reading and forget that a world outside of the story exist. Once you dive into reading it, you don’t want to put it down until you’re finished.

Really enjoyed this title. I will be adding this to my collection and sharing with my friends. Abigail has written an excellent story and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

I received an advanced copy via NetGalley - my heartfelt thanks and appreciation.

Abigail Johnson gives me FEELINGS. Her talent with words is unique and lands upon my heart like they were written just for me. I can relate to characters that I have nothing in common with. I can empathize with all of them.

And ETHAN. Oh Ethan. His voice was probably my favorite POV this author has ever written. Every word hung so raw and beautiful and I just wanted to give the poor boy a hug.

Even the side characters have depth and life and something to love AND hate about each one. That's something often lacking in YA romances these days.
This is so much more than a romance though. It's a show of bravery, starting with the author herself.

Best YA book I've read in quite awhile. Characters, emotions, and situations are well developed. Childhood friends Ethan and Rebecca must fight through their guilt and heartache to finally find each other. Ethan feels that he must take the care and responsibility for his addict mother, while Rebecca shoulders the guilt and responsibility for the car accident that left her a paraplegic and killed her father.

This story reveals the struggles of two teens, one in an accident that killed her father and put her in a wheelchair; second Ethan, who has been trying to care for his addicted mother. The story shares their struggles and heartbreak. Rebecca is hurt every time Ethan's mom takes him away from his grandparents and her whenever she feels like. She also struggle to have a relationship with her mom thinking that her mom blames her for dad's death. Can the two support each other and have new relationships with their moms and especially be in love with one another?

As someone who has dealt with lots of loss and grief this book was written so beautiful. I highly enjoyed reading this book and going on this journal with these characters.

I loved this story! I haven’t cried over the end of a book in a hot second and this one pushed me over the edge. Dual perspectives of Rebecca and Ethan living two completely different lives and both struggling in their own ways. Every time they fall apart and come back together I found myself waiting to see where they would end up. I loved watching the character development for these main characters all the way through. I found myself rooting for the characters to find what they truly needed in the end.

I have no words... This book was perfect. The writing was *chef's kiss*. YA so no spice but it didn't need any. 17 year old me would've appreciated the f*ck out of this book. 29 year old me REALLY appreciates this story. I cried-and if a book makes me cry then it means it's really good!

This book was enjoyable to read and I couldn't put it down.

This book chronicles the friendship between Ethan and Rebecca from eight years ago to the present day. Both have struggled through hard times. Ethan’s life has been through his mother’s addition. Rebecca is faced with the challenges of coping with her father's death and being in a wheelchair. In the book, their relationship in the present went back and forth.

While reading the book, it shows many things like coping, grief, friendships, relationships, family additions, and other things.

Thanks to the publishers at Inkyard Press and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in order for a review.

Sadly, this book fell extremely flat for me. If it was not an ARC that I received, I would have DNFed it.

The story was promising - the idea of decades of pain and always coming back together, but still trying to navigate all of the lingering hurt that existed, was really beautiful. However, the main characters were beyond frustrating. They were teenagers who acted like every single person and thing in the universe was there to vex them - which ended up making me roll my eyes repeatedly.

Ethan was dealing with a lot - as someone who has thankfully never seen addiction firsthand, I am certainly not the expert here, but the way Ethan reacted to the people around him, especially his grandparents who had only ever given him a safe and stable life, was disrespectful. It made Ethan incredibly unlikeable and I was not rooting for him and his happiness.

Rebecca wasn't much better. As someone who has lost their father, her story hit closer to home. But her relationship with her mother, who claims to not know how to be a mother after 17+ years, was unrealistic and painful to read.

The whole story was a constant boomerang of Ethan leaving, Rebecca being sad, Ethan being selfish, Rebecca not expressing her emotions, and repeat. It was not enjoyable, I did not care if they had happy endings, and it just felt like the whole thing was trying to be more poignant and substantial than it actually was.

Now Rebecca is a budding jewelry designer/maker and is coming to terms with the fact that she became paralyzed in an accident that killed her father. Now Ethan is dealing with living with his grandparents while his mother tries rehab again. Eight years ago, Rebecca and Ethan became friends the first time he stayed with his grandparents while his mother tried rehab. Rebecca is his grandparents' neighbor. The novel goes back and forth in time, slowly filling in the gaps in the relationship between Rebecca and Ethan. They are very close friends who depend on each other for support, except that whenever Ethan's mother returns from rehab, he just leaves with her, not saying anything to Rebecca and not communicating with her while he's in California. Both Rebecca and Ethan have difficult relationships with their parents and I thought the author did a good job dealing with those issues in a realistic manner. I read this book in about four hours, so it held my interest and was an enjoyable read. My one negative comment is that as an alumna of CSUN, I was very frustrated with the author consistently referring to it as "California State University Northridge." No one refers to it in that way, including the university itself in it's own publications. It's either CSUN or CSU, Northridge.

A Massive Thank You to the Author, the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this book prior to its release date.

I really liked this book. It was a really good read and well written. Thank you for the ARC! I really appreciate it!

I went into this book without really knowing what I was getting myself into and WOW was I surprised. I absolutely LOVED this book and I loved the way the Author included such a wide range of emotional honesty. I can see my young adult patrons really connecting to this book. This will definitely be a popular book at my library!

3.5!!!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

This was such a cute read. It was dual POV which I love, friends to lovers, which I also love, and it hit on some really big topics that many can relate to. From strained relationships with parents, to abandonment, to guilt and grief, to finding things that fuel soul - this book had it all.

I absolutely loved loved loved the character growth from both the male and female in this book and thought it was well done.

Thanks to Inkyard Press and NetGalley for an ARC of Every Time You Go Away by Abigail Johnson. This was a fantastic book that dealt with addiction, survivor guilt, child as caregiver, life changing accident and death of a parent. It’s also a story of love, resilience and friendship.

Ethan and Rebecca have been friends since they were small. Ethan is brought to his grandparents’ house intermittently over the years when his mother goes to rehab or can’t take care of him. Rebecca, same age, lives next door with a demonstrative father and a mother who lacks the ability to show care in the traditional sense. Ethan and Rebecca become fast friends but he leaves with his mom every time she returns. One fateful night Rebecca and her father are in a horrible accident where she is paralyzed and he dies. Rebecca and Ethan don’t see each other for another two years and when he returns she is scared of her feelings for him because she knows he will leave again and she has had enough loss, that now includes a mother she believes blames her for her father’s death.

Ms. Johnson writes so well about the complex subject matter, including navigating life from a wheelchair. I learned so much about the strength of wheelchair users and how thoughtless those of us who aren’t similarly abled can be by not thinking of life from their perspective. The scene at the engagement party in particular really drove that home for me.

This is a beautiful story, poignant to the point where I cried for the characters, but ended with hope for the future. Please read this book-it’s wonderful!

This was one that didn't take me long to read. Told from the perspective of Ethan and Rebecca through their childhood this is a coming of age story that deals with some pretty big issues. Each character has trauma to deal with and each tend to keep their feelings to themselves. They first met when Ethan came to live with his Grandparents while his mom, "was sick". The friendship that developed over time was beautiful and also painful. I don't want to give too much away but, I can say that I cried A LOT. If you have students who are looking for a story about resilience, real life situations, or you are looking for a story about a character in a wheelchair, this could be the one. It had an Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon vibe to it, maybe with a little less romance but I know YA readers will really like this one.

Thank you to Netgalley for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review.